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| Ralph Cowen |
Cowen: I recently found out that somehow the TSC Endowment money was transferred to a foundation that that wants to change the purpose and scope of our TSC Endowment Trust, even removing TSC from its name.
Mean Mister Brownsville: The TSC Foundation was scheduled to meet December 13, 2013 with an item on the agenda to propose and take action on "proposed amendments to the Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation of TSC Foundation as Recommended made by the Bylaws Committee," which would permit the assets of the Foundation to be used for other purposes. After TSC President Dr. Lily Tercero and the TSC Board of Trustees moved forward with legal action to thwart the move, the TSC Foundation postponed their meeting.
Cowen: The TSC Board set up the TSC Endowment Fund investment in such a way that 7th through 12th grade students who made good grades could start earning and banking TSC Endowment Dollars. By the time they graduated they could have earned the endowment dollars to pay their TSC tuition. It was an amazing program that got both local praise and national acclaim.
Mean Mister Brownsville: Here is the critical language Dr. Rose Gowen and her cronies desire to change: “…no activities shall be carried on, or distributions or applications of funds or property made…which are not made for the benefit of Texas Southmost College, for the support of its educational and public activities and programs or otherwise for the purposes necessary in the conduct by Texas Southmost College of its function as a public school.” The foundation members likely want this language changed to include UTB or UT-RGV. As Mr. Cowen stated changing the name of the foundation was also on the agenda:
1. Name change. The TSC Foundation Board of Directors will be considering action to rename the Foundation as the Historic Fort Brown Foundation for Higher Education or another name.
Cowen: I beg the members of our TSC Endowment Foundation to stop, think again and redirect their efforts to reviving the TSC Endowment Dollars program where students can earn their way through our college by making good grades. I understand that there are about $7 million in the fund today. The money is there as a result of a lot of hard work, sweat and tears of people from all walks of life in the TSC district and very wise, careful investments from the beginning.
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| TSC President Dr. Lily Tercero |
Cowen: The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley will have a development department to build scholarship endowments. TSC will have no budget or ability to compete for these scarce dollars from the small pool of donors in the poorest region in the nation.
Thanks for speaking out Mr. Cowen, and please Dr. Tercero and the TSC Board don't let these UTB or UTRGV robber barons steal from the TSC endowment fund.
ReplyDeleteSue the hell out of them and make them pay for the Legal fees that are encumbered during the fight.
I am appalled that the hateful, evil people behind the UTB continue to damage this community. Thank you for speaking up Mr. Cowen. Hopefully others will come forward now to speak out against this outrage!
ReplyDeleteFinally someone with stature in this community who has some balls! some people still have character for what is right,city commission still waiting!
ReplyDeleteWHY CARLOS CASCOS AND THE REST OF THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS NOT COMING TO RESCUE TSC????????
ReplyDeleteIN THE PAST TSC WAS A MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO THE COMMUNITY FOR PREPARING STUDENTS TO LEARN A TRADE SUCH AS NURSES, CARPENTERS, PLUMBERS, ELECTRICIANS, "TRADESMEN" TYPE JOBS, AS WELL PREPARED STUDENTS TO GO ON TO A 4 YR INSTITUTION. THESE "TRADESMEN" STAYED HERE, CONTRIBUTED TO OUR ECONOMIC GROWTH BY BEEN EMPLOYED OR BECOMING EMPLOYERS. BECOMING TAX PAYERS HERE, BOUGHT HOUSES, CARS HERE, DINE AT LOCAL EATERIES, THAT LOCAL BUSINESSES BENEFITTED AND END UP PAYING MORE TAXES HERE.
WHAT HAS UTB CONTRIBUTED, ONLY TAXED SUBSIDIZED STUDENTS THAT WE TAXPAYER NOT ONLY PAID FOR THEIR EDUCATION, MOST CAME FROM WELFARE FAMILIES, WHO DO NOT OWN PROPERTY SO THEY'RE NOT EVEN PROPERTY TAX PAYERS. HOWEVER, MOST OF TSC STUDENT PARENTS WERE LOCAL TAX PAYERS.
THEN AFTER 6 YEARS, NOT 4 YRS, 6 YRS, ONLY 16% OF THESE "SUBSIDIZED STUDENTS" GRADUATE WHICH MEANS 84% OF THESE TAX DOLLAR STUDENTS FAILED I REPEAT 84% FAILED. THE FEW THAT DO MAMAGE TO GRADUATE DO THEY BECOME LOCAL COMMUNITY MEMBERS (IE TAX PAYERS), NOOOOOOOOOOOO, THEY LEAVE, WHY BECAUSE THE FU@KING WITCH JULIETA GARCIA NEVER MADE AN EFFORT TO ATTRACT ANY BUSINESSES TO COME TO THE AREA TO EMPLOYED THESE STUDENTS.
BOTTOM LINE WITH TSC THIS COMMUNITY SAW A RETURN FOR THEIR INVESTMENT ( OUR TAX $$$), NOT SO WITH UTB, WE WERE ONLY PLUNDERED!!!!!!!!!!
TSC has an uphill battle fighting the multi-billion dollar corporation that is UT. I wish TSC all the luck to stay open as a preparatory college.
ReplyDeleteMr. Cowen, you should run for Mayor again
ReplyDeleteYes, yes he shoild.
ReplyDeleteMr. Cowen should pay this much attention to Mr. Amigo Association.
ReplyDeleteMr. Cowen, I applaud your courage to take this controversial stand against this kind of abuse of our community's hard earned money. I wish more public officials had the courage and convictions to stand up for what's right. haven't always agreed with you on how the port is being run, but on this one, you, sir, have my vote.
ReplyDeleteVery true Mr.Cowen about the Mr. Amigo Association. It has been tarnished. Very unfortunate to see this happen. Best of luck to you Sir.
ReplyDeleteEvery once and a while some inside group gets control over the town and use as their own private piggy bank. Its time for a purge again to run the rats out. Havent we had enough of the nepotism, greediness, heavy threats, corruption in this town?? The dumb criminals are going to jail but the smart ones work their puppets. It is up to us to throw the rascals out of office that allow these parasites to suck out the blood of the taxpayers. Mr. Cowan shows a lot of guts going against the powers that be who punish ordinary people who speak up. Look what Garcia, Rusterberg, Martinez, Marin and the rest of the elite club have done to poor TSC. Anyone who works at UTB will tell you about the intimidation campaign the administrators use to control opinion there. Nearly all the other local governments are in the same mess. Lets see what they do to retaliate to Cowan.
ReplyDeleteWe need to speak up like Mr. Cowan has and back him up.
Anonymous Said: "WHAT HAS UTB CONTRIBUTED, ONLY TAXED SUBSIDIZED STUDENTS THAT WE TAXPAYER NOT ONLY PAID FOR THEIR EDUCATION, MOST CAME FROM WELFARE FAMILIES, WHO DO NOT OWN PROPERTY SO THEY'RE NOT EVEN PROPERTY TAX PAYERS."
ReplyDeleteE.F. Mohammed Martinez Replies: I was not raised on welfare or such, but nevertheless I made something out of myself in the long run in spite that I hailed from a Brownsville low income working class family in the "El Ramireno" area. ...And thanks to the G.I. Bill in 1971, I made the Dean's List twice, member of the college student council and eventually graduated from college.
However, I know many friends in Brownsville and here in East Los Angeles, Ca. (where I have been residing since 1971), that were on welfare themselves, but not of their own choosing. After graduation, they managed to become productive in the their professional careers and are now bonafide tax payers themselves and their grown children as well. Maybe you Anonymous" have never been on welfare or gone to bed with hunger pains because there was no money for food until the welfare check arrived. I had parents of my own grade school classmates, who donated to me food and clothes when they saw me without a coat during the winter. I will ALWAYS be grateful to those parents who were there for me without me asking. I am now, not only a print/radio journalist/writer and community organizer but also a full time employee of the prestigious Los Angeles County Medical Center which I'm about to retire in the immediate future. When I return to my native Brownsville, I hope to be able to volunteer in helping out with all my 35 years,of experience. If I can not help out those less fortunate than I..., then I should not be a hindrance. Thank you.
E.F. Mohammed Martinez
By the way, I practically grew up with Ralph Cowen during our growing up grade school years. His mother was a school teacher and father an attorney. While working at the now old defunct "Jardin Hotel", the entire Cowen family formerly came to have brunch on Sundays as his father was escorted wheel chair bound. Today, Ralph and his siblings are professional people in their own right and are very well known in Brownsville by the "who's who" crowd. I have not had any contact with none of the Cowen family in over 50 years, but I often hear of them on the Brownsville Herald which I read periodically. Ironically, I sold the Brownsville Herald and shined shoes right in the middle of downtown. Never in my mind would I had ever thought of one day becoming a journalist myself.What irony, huh?
ReplyDeleteE.F. Mohammed Martinez
Does anyone know that Ralph Cowen trained to be a Golden Gloves boxer during his youthful days in the early 1960s? Yep! That's right! Him and I used to train at a professional wrestling and boxing ring gym combination. That heavy duty kid had a hard right that felt as if someone had thrown me a boulder and off the ring I went flying..., teeth and all! His kid brothers once in awhile tagged along too. This in mention gym was formerly located on East Adams St., (Formerly as "Cantina Row") right in front of today's still standing downtown Fire Station Dept firehouse. I just hope, unbeknownst to others, that no one has tested his past boxing prowess. I sure hate to be the foolish one to try him out! I just thought I could bring a little bit of Ralph Cowen's bio history in good nature. That's the Ralph Cowen I used to know during our growing up years in Brownsville alright.
ReplyDeleteE.F. Mohammed Martinez - Face Book: E.f. Mohammed Martinez